Time flies when you’re doing life. As we’ve gotten older, every season seems to go faster than it did before. By the end of said season, we find ourselves listing all the things we wish we did more of and wish we made time for. We’re putting an end to seasonal regret.

One of the reasons we love Virginia is because of the four distinct seasons (excluding false spring, second summer, etc…). Each feels, looks, smells, and just IS so unique. This year we started making lists for every season of things we wanted to do (and mostly eat). As summer wrapped up, we felt much better than we did the year before with no list. At no point did it feel ‘too late’ to course correct once we had the list. It was simply a matter of adding things to the schedule.

And you can do the same.

How to avoid seasonal FOMO (fear of missing out):

What is the essence of the season…to you?

For summer, it was mornings and evenings outside. It was the farmers market, the pool, flowers, and ice cream. For fall it’s festivals, apples, mums, being outside in the woods. Right now, the essence of Virginia to me is a really messy phase of a garden: blooms, dead things, overgrown crazy and starting to decompose. And that’s exactly what I got to play in the other weekend at a park with our son.

Again…these are some seasonal niche thoughts. This is going to be specific to you, so start keeping a list as ideas pop into your head.

What are the immovable dates to work around?

Think festivals, holidays, travel…Each season is different, but we’ve all got dates that we have to work around. The openings are where you’ll plug in your seasonal experiences. And you’ve got to schedule them, even if you don’t feel like doing them right now, or they won’t happen and you’ll feel regret. Just throw them in the calendar and move them if you need to later.

What are the foods and drinks?

Obviously, a big part of how we (Chris and Carlene) perceive life is food and beverage. We plan entire trips around what we’re going to eat. The benefit of listing these seasonal menu items out is you’ve already got your weekly menu in the works…especially if you’re hosting.

What are the activities?

Having a kid made this much easier. I think we engage with the ‘outside activity world’ more because of him. Would we be going to a pumpkin patch or the Halloween parade? Probably not (it’s too peopley…). Day to day we put a big focus on engaging with nature, so the activities we list out are more of the out-of-house experiential ones.

What are the seasonal experiences for daily life?

Put effort into brainstorming for all touch-points. For fall I like the window open when it’s brisk. I like shorts and a sweater and a throw blanket outside. Think about changing the scent of your hand soap, rotating your wardrobe, or pulling out an extra blanket for your bed.

What do I need to know about in the food world?

• I want to make this Indian potato fritter sandwich.

• “US start-up Savor has created a “butter” product made from carbon, in a thermochemical system closer to fossil fuel processing than food production. ‘There is no biology involved in our specific process.’”

• I think this might be the product I dislike the most right now… “A functional children friendly decaffeinated coffee beverage” with 4 grams of fiber.

What do I need to know about in the tech world?

The new Amazon One system uses your palm for payment. Which means you literally just handed your biometric data to a shopping company. Very much not looking forward to this data breach.

What I’m making:

• Tomato vine vodka (and obviously you can buy the spritz, but TVV is a fun DIY.)

• Not food, but we’ve had a fun time making stretch bracelets with our toddler to give to friends and family. Don’t be tempted by the plastic bead kits that are popular and massively overpriced because of Taylor Swift concerts. Go to your local craft shop and grab the stretch string in the video below (watch it to learn how to make the bracelets). We bought glass and wood beads for under $10 which are so much nicer than plastic beads.

  

What I’m loving:

• This $15 skin serum: I’ve been using this for a month now and it has made a massive difference in the appearance of my skin. Ever since I fell down my SPF melanoma rabbit hole, I’ve been reading content from more dermatologists. This is a recommendation as something to support SPF skin protection.

• These loafers: I’ve been wearing these since summer and they’re perfectly broken in as a stylish structured upgrade to my more casual Sabahs.

• Gorgeous Tsumami Zaiku structures: This artist uses a Japanese folding technique known as ‘tsumami zaiku’ to craft vibrant sea life creations.